Small items such as rolls of tape are often displayed using a packaging card which attaches to the product and contains product information such as the product name, manner of use, and price. The product may then be placed on a shelf where the product and the upstanding packaging card are visible to prospective purchasers. Alternatively, a hole may be punched in the packaging card so that the card can be hung from a rod projecting from a vertical panel. In both manners of display, prospective purchasers can easily view both the product and information pertaining thereto. This manner of displaying small items is in widespread use.
Frequently, producers wish to promote a product by offering it at a special price or selling multiple units of a product for less than each unit would cost if sold separately. Additionally, two different products of a manufacturer may be sold together at a special price. This requires manufacturing a special packaging card which can accommodate multiple units of the product or products being promoted. This multiple unit card will contain language to the effect that this multiple unit package is being sold at a special price, etc. In this manner, a purchaser might be encouraged to try this particular product instead of a competing brand.
Packaging cards also generally contain UPC codes to identify the product to a computer. The code consists of vertical bars having differing widths and numbers thereunder. The product can be identified by scanning the vertical bars with a laser scanner or by entering the individual numbers into a cash register by hand. Since the price to be charged depends on the UPC symbol read by a computer, products which come in different sizes must be identified by separate UPC symbols. This also allows an accurate inventory to be kept of the number of each size of product which remains in the store. Thus, it is evident that when items which are normally sold individually are promoted and sold in a special multiple package, a distinct UPC code is needed to identify the multiple package.
Promotions such as the above are only designed to run for a limited period of time. When the promotion is over, a seller may wish to remove the multiple unit packages from his display and return to selling each individual item for its original price. Alternately, a seller may sell all but a few of the promotional items and not have room on his shelves to display both individual and multiple unit packages. The unsold products, or the products remaining after a promotion would then have to be returned to the manufacturer for repackaging. This is costly and inefficient and decreases the desirability of promotions such as the above.